Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
Preservice and inservice peer counseling training components in higher educational opportunity programs in Pennsylvania
Abstract
The Higher Education Equal Opportunity Act (Act 101), of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, took effect in July, 1971. The thrust of this legislation was to provide educational opportunities for economically and educationally disadvantaged students. Supportive intervention strategies such as peer counseling and professional counseling are fundamental ingredients of Act 101 programs. No particular peer counselor model is uniformly endorsed as the most effective for assisting Act 101 students. This study was a comparative, qualitative case study of the preservice and inservice training components of peer counseling programs at East Stroudsburg University, University of Pennsylvania, and Widener University. Program directors and counselors completed a questionnaire and participated in an in-depth interview in order to assess the amount of emphasis placed on various themes, skills, and attitudes during peer counseling preservice and inservice programs. The results of the study indicate there is general agreement among directors and counselors, at all three programs, about content and methodologies. It was concluded that a harmoniously blended theoretical model with the Carkhuff model (1967) as a base, is preferred. The Carkhuff model emphasises the core dimensions of helping: (1) empathic understanding; (2) positive regard; (3) genuineness; and (4) concreteness. The counselors have integrated parts of various theories, such as self-actualization theory, values clarification, skills training, and experiential learning. This eclectic approach represents the theoretical orientation preferred by the participants in this study.
Subject Area
Academic guidance counseling|Higher education|Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Graham, Patricia, "Preservice and inservice peer counseling training components in higher educational opportunity programs in Pennsylvania" (1995). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9524706.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9524706